Week 14 Rankings

Your Top 25:

Rk	Δ	Team	Pts
1	0	Alabama	69.0

Alabama won the Iron Bowl, going from throwing three interceptions in the first half to scoring three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to beat Auburn 55-44.

2

+1

Ohio State

62.9

The Buckeyes won this year's edition of the Game 42-28. The Wolverines kept it close until the fourth quarter before an all-too-familiar Michigan turnover drove the final nail into the Wolverines' coffin.

3

+4

Oregon

61.3

Oregon cracks into the Top Five for the first time since Week 4 as the Ducks easily defeat Oregon State 47-19 in the Civil War. Heisman hopeful Marcus Mariota threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more in the win.

4

+2

Wisconsin

60.9

The Badgers ended Minnesota's dream season, beating the Gophers 34-24, keeping Paul Bunyan's Axe, and earning a spot in the Big Ten title game.

5

+4

TCU

60.5

The Horned Frogs' defense plagued Texas on Thanksgiving, forcing six(!) turnovers in a 48-10 win.

6	-2	Baylor	60.1
7	-5	Mississippi State	59.7
8	+3	Georgia Tech	58.6
9	+1	Michigan State	58.4
10	-5	Marshall	54.4
11	-3	Georgia	53.9
12	+2	Ole Miss	53.2
13	+2	Florida State	51.9
14	-1	Oklahoma	51.3
15	-3	Auburn	49.5
16	+3	Boise State	48.0
17	+1	Missouri	46.9
18	-1	Georgia Southern	46.8
19	+1	Kansas State	46.5
20	+2	LSU	46.2
21	0	Arizona	45.4
22	-6	UCLA	44.5
23	+2	Nebraska	43.7
24	+3	Clemson	43.4
25	-1	Louisville	43.3

See full rankings here.

Teams falling out of the Top 25: (27) Arkansas ends their SEC win streak at two after another fourth-quarter collapse leads to a 21-14 loss to Mizzou.

Teams worse than the average FCS team:

• (128) Georgia State ends the season at 1-11 after a 54-31 loss to Texas State.
• (129) SMU is still winless after a 35-9 loss to Houston but has a decent chance to win next week against a 2-9 UConn.

Largest improvement in rank: +13 North Carolina State easily handled North Carolina, winning 35-7 in a game where they were a slight underdog.

Largest drop in rank: -15 Rice was embarrassed by Louisiana Tech, losing 76-31. The Owls allowed five unanswered touchdowns in the second half.

Conference Rankings

Conference	Average
SEC	40.40
Pac-12	32.36
Big XII	31.94
Big Ten	31.92
ACC	31.83
Mountain West	21.75
Conference USA	20.11
American	18.32
Sun Belt	17.05
MAC	14.72

Games to watch this week: This upcoming week is Championship Week, when the four participants in the first College Football Playoff will be decided. There are six Power Five teams left with one loss or less, and five of them are playing two-loss teams in championship or de facto championship games. Which of the Power Five conferences will be left out? Will a two-loss team break their way in? These questions will be answered based on the results of these games:

Big Ten Championship: (4) Wisconsin vs. (2) Ohio State (8:17 PM EST, Fox) We start in the Big Ten with what looks like the closest of this week's games. The Badgers feature a rush-heavy offense, posting 334 rushing yards per game (3rd in the FBS), largely on the legs of Heisman-contending running back Melvin Gordon. Gordon leads the FBS in rushing yards on the season and just set the Big Ten season record. Meanwhile, Ohio State has had a balanced offense under QB J.T. Barrett and is 11th in total yards per game and 5th in points per game. However, Wisconsin's defense is stiff, only allowing 260 yards per game (2nd in the FBS) and 16.8 points per game (4th). Both Gordon and Barrett came out of their games due to ankle injuries last week, but Gordon is likely to play with a tweaked ankle while Barrett is out for the rest of the season with a broken one. Overall, I think the two-loss team has the edge in this one.

Line: Wisconsin by 3.5

SEC Championship: (1) Alabama vs. (17) Missouri (4 PM EST, CBS) The SEC Championship has been dominated in recent years by the Western division. The last time a team from the East won, Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer were still at Florida, and George W. Bush was still in the White House. Expect the West's domination to continue on Saturday. The SEC West looks like the best division in college football right now with five teams in our Top 25 (compared to the East's two), and is represented in the Championship Game by the team most people consider to be the best in the country. Their opponent lost to an Indiana team that finished the season 4-8. Expect at least one one- or no-loss team to lose next week, but be shocked if the Crimson Tide is one of them.

Line: Alabama by 22.5

Pac-12 Championship: (21) Arizona vs. (3) Oregon (Friday 9 PM EST, Fox) The Ducks had clinched the Pac-12 North three weeks ago, but it wasn't until Saturday, after Arizona beat Arizona State and Stanford upset UCLA, that the Wildcats knew they would be representing the South. Both teams win with high-powered offenses that favor the passing game; the last time these two teams met, they accounted for 941 total yards of offense. Oregon looks better on paper--the Ducks are 4th in ypg and 4th in ppg, while Arizona is 22nd and 19th, respectively--but the Wildcats won the last two contests against the Ducks, including Oregon's only regular season loss, a 31-24 upset in Eugene. Will Oregon get their revenge Friday night, or will Arizona make it three in a row?

Line: Oregon by 15

ACC Championship: (13) Florida State vs. (8) Georgia Tech (8 PM EST, ABC) Both of these teams have managed to win by an average margin of only 12 or 13 points against a relatively weak ACC schedule. (The only other Top 25-caliber teams in the ACC are (24) Clemson and (25) Louisville.) The difference is that Florida State gets it done through the air (FSU is in the top 25 for passing yards per game and the bottom 25 for rushing yards per game), while Georgia Tech gets their yards on the ground (the reverse applies for the Yellow Jackets). Oh, and the Seminoles have managed to come from behind several times to finish the regular season 12-0, while Georgia Tech has fallen twice (to Duke and North Carolina). The Math is perhaps overrating Tech because it favors the rushing game, but this game will still be one more test that the Seminoles must pass if they want to convince the Committee that they belong in the College Football Playoff.

Line: Georgia Tech by 19

Sort of Big XII championship: (19) Kansas State at (6) Baylor (7:45 PM EST, ESPN) The Big Twelve is no longer large enough to have a conference championship game ("Every game matters. Ten teams, nine games, one true champion," as they proudly spun it earlier this season), but this one should suffice. Baylor and K State--along with TCU--are still in contention for the top spot. Even though both the Math and the Committee have ranked the Bears lower than TCU, Baylor has already won the head-to-head and needs only to win this game to win the Big XII. Meanwhile, TCU needs a Baylor loss and to win against lowly Iowa State; K State needs to beat Baylor and the mother of all upsets in a TCU loss. However, if Baylor does not have a demonstrative win over the Wildcats on Saturday, we may see the Committee send the second-place Big Twelve team to the Playoffs while the champion stays out.

Line: Baylor by 15.5